After their remarkable run of 24 games with at least a point – 30 going back to last season – the ’Hawks have now lost two games in a row in regulation, something they haven’t done since Feb. 25-26 of last year.

The 6-5 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday, in which the ’Hawks played their sloppiest hockey of the season in the first period, came in the Chicago’s seventh game in 11 days. After a game like that, where the Blackhawks made blunder after blunder to fall behind 4-0 to a young Oilers team, a coach would likely want to round up the troops for some refocusing. It might sound counter-intuitive, but there are times when coaches don’t mind seeing the end of a great run of hockey. They know the good feeling has got to end some time and players tend not to listen as well when they’re winning.